BIOTECHNOLOGY AND BIOENGINEERING VOL.

XVIII (1976)

Kinetics of Continuous Growth Cultures Using

the Logistic Growth Curve

One of the main criticisms to the current chemostat theory is that it uses a
first order rate expression to describe the microbial growth taking place in the
vessel. This rate equation is
rg = r X (1)
where T~ is the rate of growth, (mg/sec)/cm3 of suspension; fi is the specific growth
rate, sec-1; X is the concentration of active (live) cells, mg/cm3.
Equation (1) mathematically describes the exponential growth phase only;
it does not describe the declining growth nor the stationary phases, which are
characteristic of a typical batch growth curve.
If eq. (1) is used in the analysis of microorganism growth in a continuous
culture, the resulting equations will correspond exclusively to the case of the
assumed exponential growth. Obviously, these equations cannot be applied to
practical cases such as an activated sludge system in which the engineer wants to
maintain the population in the declining growth phase or in the stationary one.
If it is desired to maintain a microorganism population at any of the growth
phases, an equation describing the full batch growth curve is required. Such a
curve could well be the logistic growth curve, shown in Figure 1, which describes
the growth of a batch culture fairly well.
The equation of the logistic curve is:
Xmax
X =
1 + mcnt
where Xmaxis the saturation population of active microorganisms, mg/cm3; m and
n are numerical parameters.
Equation (2) can be rewritten in terms of the initial population, X,, by making
t = 0 in eq. (2). This yields

Substituting eq. (3) into eq. (2) gives

X,
X
= (5e-nt)
m+l
+ (L)
m + l
(4)

If m is large, i.e., if X , is small as compared to Xm*= (cf. eq. (3)), eq. (4) can be
rewritten as

which is nothing more than the exponential growth curve. Thus, it is seen that
exponential growth is a special case of the logistic growth.
1029
01976 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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1030 BIOTECHNOLOGY AND BIOENGINEERING, VOL. XVIII (1976)

Time
Fig. 1. Logistic batch growth curve. The maximum growth rate occurs a t
t = t*, and X = 1/2, X,,,.

The rate of growth, corresponding to eq. (2) as applied t o a batch reactor,

would be

Equation (6) can directly be used in the analysis of a continuous flow culture
with no recycle as follows. Assume the eflluent from the chemostat contains
both living and dead cells and that a fraction 4 of dead cells undergoes lysis, so
+
that a fraction 1 - of dead cells will remain in the effluent as suspended solids.
A mass balance on total solids, i.e., dead plus live cells, would be

accumulation = input - { output of

total
solids
]+{ net rate
of
growth
]+{ rate of
increase of
dead matter
)
Under steady-state conditions, which are easily accomplished in a complete mix
tank reactor. there will be no accumulation of solids. Under the assumption
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COMMUNICATIONS TO T H E EDITOR 1031

that there are no cells in the influent, the input term will be zero. Therefore,
the mass balance equation will be:
0 = 0 - XT . Q + v . T n g + v ( 1 - + ) r d (7)
where XT is the concentration of the total solids (live +
dead), mg/cm3; Q is the
volumetric flow rate, cmJ/sec; V is the liquid volume in the reactor, cm3; rnPis the
net rate of growth, (mg/cm3)/sec; T d is the rate of death, (mg/cm3)/sec.
The net rate of growth can be expressed as follows:
r,, = ro - rd (8)
Substituting eq. (8) into eq. (7) results in the following expression:

where t is V/Q, the average holding time/sec.

Under normal growth conditions the product +- rd can be neglected and
eq. (9) can be simplified into
XT
rg = -
f
From eqs. (6) and (lo), an equation defining the detention time can be ob-
tained, namely,

In order to find out what growth phase will be prevalent when one selects a
particular detention time, first it will be helpful to define what holding time
yields the inflection point of the curve in Figure 1. This point, in turn, defines
the maximum rate of growt,h. This can be accomplished by setting the second
derivative of eq. (2) to zero; this gives

x=-- Xmax (12)

2

The maximum rate of growth, obtained by substituting eq. (12) into eq. (6), is

(rg)max = (t)nXm*, (13)

The detention time which yields the maximum rate will be obtained by sub-
stituting eq. (12) into eq. (11). This results in

Under normal circumstances XT will not be significantly different from X .

Then, if it is assumed, by eqs. (12) and (14), that a t the maximum rate of growth
XT 1~ X, the holding time which yields the maximum rate can be determined by
the expression
 10970290, 1976, 7, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/bit.260180715, Wiley Online Library on [01/06/2023]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License
1032 BIOTECHNOLOGY AND BIOENGINEERING, VOL. XVIII (1976)

Any holding time greater than the one given by eq. (15) will maintain the
continuous flow culture in a growth phase other than the exponential phase
(declining growth or stationary). On the other hand, if the holding time is less
than 2/n, growth will be exponential. However, it can be demonstrated that if
the detention time is reduced to l/n, no significant concentration of microorga-
nisms can be maintained in the vessel since call washout will take place.
Equations (7)-(15) have been developed for a continuous growth culture with
no cell recycle. A similar set of equations can be worked out for the case of the
continuous growth culture with recycle. This latter set could be directly applied
to real systems, such as the activated sludge process.

ENRIQUEJ. LA MOTTA
Department of Civil Engineering
University of Miami
Coral Gables, Florida 33124

Accepted for Publication March 7, 1976